September 23, 2006

Ocean City Inlet

George put out a call looking for folks wanting to go play in the shoals off of of the Ocean City inlet and a few of us jumped at the chance to go play. Low tide was supposed to be around 3:00 Saturday, the optimum time for the swells to be breaking across the bottom offshore.

Hurricane Helene was forecast to bring in some bigger swells in the 5-7 foot range which is bigger than I wanted to play in, but with assurances there were milder places to play if the waves were too large I committed to go. Chris B was our local eyes and he kept us up to date on the sea state as time grew near.

I went down and camped at Assateague State Park the day before. Cyndi J also did the same but would arrive later in the evening. I managed to get out of work early and was checked in and ready to paddle by 3:00 pm. I did a quick survey of the marina were we were to meet the next morning, then headed back to the park boat launch.

It was windy. Very windy. I surfed downwind at about 5MPH with almost no effort at all. It it hadn't been so late I would probably have paddled all the way down to Ocean City. But since the launch closed at dark, I know I couldn't make it back.

After a few miles I crossed the back bay and headed toward the launch, slogging against the wind. My speed only averaged about 3MPH, but the few miles still slipped by quickly.

Back at the camp site I took a few moments to put 303 on the kayak. Sun has taken its toll on my poor explorer giving it a pink chalky appearance at times.

A quick stroll along the beach to look at the waves. Dumping hard on the beach I kept thinking 'ouch' when big waves crashed hard on the shore.

I fixed dinner and squared away gear for the next day and then as the sun disappeared and it grew dark I watched the late arrivals hauling camper trailers come in and try to park them on the small asphalt pads. Some were able to park them the first try, while others struggled over and over again to back them in.

Cyndi arrived a little after 9:30 and after setting up her tent and making plans for breakfast we called it a night, but not before I learned from her that George was sick and couldn't make it!

The temperature overnight was perfect. Cool, but not cold. The wind kept up all night but not to the point it ever woke me from flapping the tents.

In the morning I walked out to the beach to look at the waves again. Breaking on the shore I knew I didn't want to launch from the beach. Cyndi came out and we eye'd a few spots we thought we could sneak through in a pinch.

We stopped for breakfast in a small restaurant. A little expensive, and Cyndi mentioned later she thought we were served decaf. I have to agree. After 3 cups of coffee it didn't seem as there was any caffeine helping to get me motivated.

At the dock Cyndi and I got our kayaks ready and swapped stories while waiting for Nelson L and Chris B. They arrived within moments of each other and we carried the kayaks over to the boat ramps and launched.

We paddled out through the narrow harbor and into the bay behind Assateague and Ocean City. Across the bay we landed part way up the inlet and walked across to take a look at the ocean. The waves were breaking on the shoal already but didn't look too bad on the beach. Going out of the inlet looked nasty though.

From the inlet we headed back into the bay behind Ocean City. The shoaling here caused waves to break in a few different places, but totally at random so it was hit and miss. We would start near the inlet and paddle toward the bridge to our north trying to guess where the waves would rise up and break. We caught a few rides, but I think we were looking for it to get better as we neared low tide.

It had been a very long time since I had been in any breaking waves. These weren't breaking hard at all and small, and I found I quickly picked things back up. On one run I thought I might capsize, recovered with a high brace and quickly rolled it into a low brace as I got control over the kayak, then leaned back in a stern rudder to straighten the kayak back out. Sweet.

Cyndi had taught me a stern rudder pry that helped protect the shoulder, so I used that a lot and survived the day without injuring my arm. I'd often plant it too far back, but would immediately catch myself before prying and move it in close to my body.

The wind was relentless and always seemed to peak after I surfed north and made the turn to paddle back. Slow and deliberate got me back to the top of the run to turn and go again.

While we played a ship kept coming in and out of the inlet. It came by 3 or 4 times while we played. It looked as if maybe we weren't the only ones playing in the currents and waves.

I noticed Chris B head off to shore. At the time I assumed he had gone off to call Mitch, but later learned Chris' day hatch had flooded and he went to shore to dump it. When he returned Chris mentioned a strong rip near shore, but I didn't really pay much attention. I should have...

Mitch and Chris S were spotted so we paddled up to meet with them. From a green buoy we headed over near shore. Right into the rip that Chris B had mentioned earlier. I didn't notice anything strange until I looked up and saw that I was slipping backwards past the dock at a high rate of speed back into the mouth of the inlet. "Oh crap", I thought. I dug in and ferried closer to shore and eventually made it in to the eddy near a dock.

Mitch led the way cutting under the dock and going back out to the rip to circle around back into the eddy. We each did this a few times before someone mentioned sneaking out to the inlet to take a peek.

Back across the inlet and easing up the south breakwater Chris S hauled his Tempest out on the rocks to look at the breakers on the other side. Once back in the water we eased further and further toward the mouth back paddling to keep from moving out too fast. Mitch and Chris S were starting to play when I noticed I was unable to stop my forward progress by back paddling. I needed to turn around....and quick!

I tried to turn, but in the current the Explorer was slow to respond. I needed a big arc to turn which took me out into the strong current and hastened my push toward the sea. It finally did turn just as I felt the incoming swells staring to push on my stern. A slight boost to get back in close to the rocks and out of the fast current.

But the work wasn't over. As I paddled back into the inlet I would occasionally drift too far from the rocks and get pushed backwards. I had to dig in to pass the boats anchored along the break wall fishing and by the time I made it up to a nice eddy I was beat.

We beached in an opening in the break wall for a snack. We stood around looking at the waves breaking hard out on the shoals then headed back in to play in a rip near the bay side of the inlet. That water was MOVING. A few eddy turns and then I ferried across the current following Mitch, then back to take a few pictures of others playing in the rip. I could feel that I had over stretched the muscle in my right shoulder with all this hard paddling, but a half our later everything seemed back to normal.

Once we were all sufficiently tired we ferried across the current and the bay and back in to the small harbor. After hauling out our boats Chris S decided to seal launch off the high dock. Here's the YouTube Video shot by Chris B: Seal Launch

Pictures

Chris B's Pictures

A few crude videos by me:

Turning out of the rip

Seal Launch

Woody